Builders Provide Restitution To Home Buyers

September 05, 1999|By Anthony Burke Boylan, Tribune Staff Writer.

A father and son accused of bilking people who made down payments on homes that were never built pleaded guilty to 15 charges each, including income tax evasion, theft, money laundering and forgery, and paid $400,000 in restitution as part of their sentences.

Builders Samuel Miceli and son James also will serve about 3 years' probation, pay $25,000 fines each and be prohibited from working in real estate for the next five years. They also must pay about $28,000 in back taxes to the state and $30,000 in interest to the home buyers.

The plea agreement was applauded by victims who tried to buy homes in the Deer Pointe subdivision in Lake in the Hills. They have been waiting for a resolution of the matter since authorities began investigating the Micelis' building practices two years ago.

The home buyers were able to pick up checks for the amount of money they lost in the McHenry County Courthouse in Woodstock.

"Just watching (the Micelis) stand there and shift was satisfying," said Charlotte Hurc of Woodstock, who paid the Micelis $46,000 toward a new home in 1995 that wasn't completed. "I hope they know what they did."

For decades, suburban home buyers and subcontractors have filed civil suits against the Micelis for similar complaints. In the majority of the cases, the Micelis either didn't show up for scheduled court hearings or refused to pay judgments issued against them.

The Lake in the Hills case was unusual because it involved a matter that ordinarily would be left to a civil court. But by tying together what they saw as a pattern of criminal activity and gathering evidence seeming to show the Micelis had the intent to defraud the home buyers, prosecutors said they were able to bring the case to criminal court.

"Those who have obtained judgments in civil court have been paid rarely," said Assistant McHenry County State's Atty. Terence Nader, chief of the criminal division.

Dozens of suppliers and subcontractors that did work in the Deer Pointe subdivision still await about $1.5 million in payments they say the Micelis owe them.

The investigation involved state and Lake in the Hills police and the Illinois Department of Revenue. Investigators spent thousands of hours poring over contracts, bank records and other documents.

"It took that many people and that many hours to transform this from a civil case to a criminal case," said State's Atty. Gary Pack.

According to the charges, the Micelis operated America's Building Corp., Allied Building and companies under several other names in the northwest suburbs. They took down payments from 20 families for Deer Pointe homes, beginning in 1997.

Home buyers began complaining--first to village officials, then to county prosecutors--that their houses were not being built and that the Micelis kept asking for more money.

A county grand jury indicted the Micelis last October, accusing them of diverting down payments through several bank accounts, then using the money to support a lavish lifestyle instead of building the homes they promised.

In some cases, to get money from banks, the Micelis put the names of people with whom they had no agreement on documents, according to the charges.

Circuit Judge Ward S. Arnold explained why the sentence was best for all involved.

"The easiest thing for me to do is to sign an order sending you over to the Department of Corrections for as long as I can take you off the streets," he told the Micelis. "But that doesn't solve the problems of the people who lost money.

"If you violate the terms of this order . . . you can both expect to go to prison."